10.10.2010

Several dear friends, including my mum, have embarked on this quasi-Paleo low[er] carbohydrate way of eating over the past two months. We're each encountering various benefits--lost weight, reduced joint pain, diminished asthma, improved energy, all kinds of compliments from others. And we're all having some difficulties in negotiating cravings.

I have continued to abstain from all grains and to eat meat at least every few days, but I had a two glasses of fresh pressed vegetable juices last week and ate at Cafe Gratitude where I suspect a fair amount agave nectar is lurking in even the savory dishes.

Another thing I've noticed is resistance to thinking about what to eat so much of the time. I was habituated to the level of awareness required to remain successfully gluten-free, but now I'm half-assedly tracking carbohydrate intake. This week I became preoccupied with omega fatty acid ratios and suddenly nuts became potentially problematic.

This is getting crazy I decided.

And it is boring.

I decided to stop reading and just eat for a bit.

For A Joyful Celiac I almost photographed yesterday's three egg omelet with shiitakes, chevré, shallots and tomato, with rainbow chard and garlic sauteed in bacon fat on the side for A Joyful Celiac but nutritious as it all was, I just wasn't excited enough about it.

Here are my notes to A.B. after we commiserated yesterday. 'I just want to eat popcorn!' I complained, 'And I'm never making another coconut flour pancake. They just wind up being egg-y and not like pancakes.'

I seem not drawn to bring birds home--too technical, too many bones and moving parts--but maybe on our dream date we could make this.

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I'm going to trying to use more spices and added flavors. I bought pesto at Rainbow today (made with only olive oil--not padded with damaging cheap safflower or sunflower or corn oils sneaking in and more ever--I only just realized that most of my favorite restaurant food--Dosa, for example--is made probably with bad PUFA--sad.). I usually make my own Za'atar though it never tastes as good as store-bought for some reason. Today I found a mix that's from a Palestinian women's collective in Gaza--so that seemed like a good idea. I wonder if it would work as steak rub. Usually I just mix it in olive oil and spread it thickly on toast. But that was back in the years of gluten-free toast. Now maybe I put it on steak as sauce, or on seed crackers.

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As long as I'm not so drawn to meat I'm going to try to eat smoked salmon, like lox, almost daily. This has been my (expensive) vision for being energetic through Rohatsu when I'll want a fierce protein source I can eat easily and without cooking. Also The Fatted Calf just opened a Hayes Valley store and they have home-made non-glutened beef jerky from grass-fed Marin Sun Ranch cow-people. (Sadly Prather Ranch puts wheaty soy sauce in theirs so I am so happy that the Fatted Calf is here now.)

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Lots of vegetables--yummy ones. With mushrooms. Yum. Using egg in soup like hot and sour soup where it's kind of disguised and functions like noodles. Kelp, too.

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Going to try to dial back my carb intake. I think that it has been creeping up and that might be contributing to my cravings. I went back to cow yogurt because Rainbow was out of goat's milk yogurt for a week. Work has been rough sometimes and I was tired and I was eating more then a medicinal level of chocolate too. I suspect that hormones are also playing a large role in this.

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Going to finally buy Nourishing Traditions for inspiration, and reread key chapters in Good Calories Bad Calories to remind myself why I am doing this at all. When all else fails and the hand is reaching for the maple syrup, popcorn, toast, or the mind is imagining Gracias Madre's gorgeous starch-laden, blood-sugar escalating rice and beans with mushrooms and greens, I recite to myself, 'Glycation! Glycation! Glycation! Dementia, arthritis, depression, diabetes. Do you want to walk happily to your grave on your birth-knees or wind up with expensive after-market joints at the risk of infection? (And worse, Johnson&Johnson just recalled a bunch of artificial hips! And they'll only pay for the surgery to replace them--not the actual total cost in case of complications or addition hospitalization as a result!) Glycation! Inflammation. Nothing tastes as good as being ambulatory and cognitively intact when you're ninety. Here, go eat some butter.' Sometimes reading people's stories on the internet helps.

HOW I THINK ABOUT FOOD

Maximize nutrient to pleasure ratio/Minimize simple carbohydrates/No additives, artificial colors or flavors/Eat many colors of fruits and vegetables each day/Maple syrup or honey rarely/Cane sugar & corn syrup never/Supplement iron, calcium & B12/Drink full-leaf tea daily/Fruit juice is sugar/Pursue new flavors/Store fats in glass jars/Contemporary soy is an industrial product, not food/Invest money & time in eating well/Never leave the house without a plan for food/Honor cravings gently and they'll dissolve--but sugar creates demand for sugar/Fish oil each day/Use spices and flavors luxuriantly/Make food for the week in advance/Eat dark chocolate/Share the joy/And of course, no gluten at all.

DELICIOUS::YUM

The purpose of this blog is to support others diagnosed with celiac disease. More and more frequently, friends and colleagues are asking me for referrals and resources for the newly diagnosed celiacs & gluten-free eaters in their lives. :: There are already many wonderful websites and blogs for the gluten-free and I don't intend to replicate their efforts. :: A Joyful Celiac :: chronicles what I eat, why I eat it, and where I buy it. :: It's only what has worked for me. It has been effective--I test negative for antibodies to gluten, my BMI stays around 20, I'm active and I really revel in every thing I eat. :: But, I am not a medical provider or a nutritionist and I don't offer medical advice. If you are ill or are having difficulty maintaining a healthy weight, please talk with someone qualified to diagnose and work with your needs. :: The standard of celiac care includes a bone mass study, annual antibody testing, nutritional counseling, and screening for iron & B12 deficiency anemia. :: For six or more months after diagnosis many celiacs have difficulty digesting milk and soy products. If you're gluten-free and continuing having symptoms, consider abstaining from dairy and soy while the body heals, and then try adding the foods back in. :: I live in area where local grown, organic food is available year round and I know that this is a privilege. :: I prioritize spending on food. I think of it as an investment in my present & future. :: I'll post ideas & recipes sporadically.

About Me

I have celiac disease. I love to eat. My head is shaved as part of my Buddhist practice. I became vegetarian at sixteen and only recently returned to eating flesh. I was diagnosed with CD in the Spring of 2003 when I was thirty-one years old but I had been sick since early childhood. Before I went gluten-free, my life was limited by grinding fatigue, chronic injuries, intermittent depression and constant anxiety. Since my diagnosis I've gone to graduate school & become a psychiatric social worker. I work full-time on an urban mobile crisis team for multiply diagnosed people. Eating safely is a crucial to my ability to do demanding work. Going gluten-free has given me a vibrant new life of possibility and spontaneous joy--I wish you the same.